Learn About Mortgage

Calculators

Wondering how much your mortgage will be? Use our calculators to perform mortgage-related calculations such as your expected monthly payments.

Government Loans

Government loans are guaranteed loans by one of two federal
agencies, allowing lenders to lend money with miniscule risk.
However, government doesn't lend the money, they do guarantee
repayment to the lender and ensure any potential loss that
may incurred if any loan go into default and subsequently
foreclosure. There are two types of government loans are.
They are:Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans, and Veterans
Administration (VA) loans. The advantages of financing using
FHA loans are that they are easier to qualify for, and allow
a borrower to finance more of the loan amount than non-government
loans. With a Conforming Loan a borrower may only be able
to finance 80% of the loan amount, a FHA loan allows a borrower
to finance 97% of the loan amount. FHA loans are recommended
for those borrowers who are first-time buyers, have low down
payment, have a short credit history, or are having trouble
qualifying for a Conforming Loan.

The two main advantages of financing using VA loans are that
the VA allows borrowers to finance 100% of the loan amount,
and that, the VA only requires proof of veteran status to
qualify for the loan. The only drawback to government loans
is that mortgage insurance is required at all loan to values
(LTV), unlike Conventional and Jumbo loans where payment of
mortgage insurance is determined by the amount of equity a
borrower has in his home. FHA loans are offered as both 15
and 30 year fixed rate mortgages and 1 year ARMs. The primary
advantages of FHA loans are their low down payment requirement
and their less stringent qualification requirements. Although
FHA loans are not restricted to first-time homebuyers they
are well suited for the first-time buyer. The FHA 1 year ARM
product is particularly appealing due to its adjustment interval
cap of 1% (vs. 2% on most conforming ARMs) and its lifetime
cap of 5% (vs. 6% on most conforming ARMs).